


The Voice on the Line

by TwoCatsTailoring



Series: Post-Dawn [4]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: F/M, FFXV Original Canon Compliant, Long-Distance Relationship, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Dawn, Post-World of Ruin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-09-23
Packaged: 2019-10-18 00:43:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17571041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwoCatsTailoring/pseuds/TwoCatsTailoring
Summary: Rebuilding Insomnia will take time, energy, and a lot of dedication and while the people are willing, the need for central leadership is clear. Enter Ignis Scientia, newly appointed Premiere of Insomnia. The role begins badly defined, with high expectations and very few willing to step up to help with even the most mundane of tasks. But in Ignis's more than capable hands, the restoration machinery will become well-run in no time.But with all new ventures come new people to meet. And before he really has his wings, Ignis meets someone who will come to be very important in a very unlikely place.





	1. Interpersonal Hazards

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When one is in charge of the running of a country only recently restored to a livable situation, one has to learn to live with a few inconveniences.

This conversation was not going as she had initially planned. Not that she sat around planning their biweekly chats or anything but she did look forward to them. And kept a running list of things that happened she could tell Ignis about. 

He once said that; hearing the everyday happenings of her life helped him feel less removed from normal life. And that she added more flavor to her stories of Danica and Gladio’s children than Gladio himself did.

Which was not hard to believe, really. For someone who devoured library books by the half dozen a week, he was a terrible storyteller.

But so far, the two or three things from her life and the fact that Laurea had rolled over on her own for the first time, had not even been mentioned. Because Ignis, true to his promise of being fair and honest with her, had opened the call by telling her that someone in his newly created security office had taken it upon themselves to run a background check on her.

He was actually more upset that someone had done it without consulting him than about anything else. “I have no idea what is in it. I’m afraid I rather unceremoniously threw the man out of my office.”

As he went on to apologize profusely, Penny let out a breath that she had been holding. She should have expected this. At least, if he didn’t know what was in it, she could have a chance to explain some of it before someone just read it out to him.

She was technically a  _ criminal  _ after all.

The idea of that criminal record made her giggle before shoving some of the more uncomfortable thoughts to the back of her mind. It was all ancient history anyway, and even though some of it still made her mind shrink back and her chest tighten, things were so different now. So completely different.

“Ignis, it’s fine. It’s to be expected, right? You are kind of important and all,” she teased before continuing soberly, “And I do have an extensive criminal record.”

The silence that fell on the other end of the phone was profound and his, “Oh.” was so carefully schooled and evenly delivered that Penny couldn’t tease him further.

“I was arrested thirty-eight times for disobeying orders during the Night. Nursing and emergency staff were limited to six months in the field for every twelve. And I,” she hummed thoughtfully, “wasn’t very good at obeying that rule.”

To his credit, his relieved exhale was very, very quiet. She almost didn’t hear it.

Almost.

“Ah. I see.” Ignis cleared his throat before putting on his best lecturing voice, “I can’t fault you for wanting to help but I feel obligated to remind you that the laws were put in place for a reason.”

“Yes,” she agreed with a bright chirp, “and it was a stupid reason. So I ignored it. My second trip to jail would be of interest to you though. My arresting officer for that one was a friend of yours.”

“Really? Who?”

“Marshal Cor Leonis.”

“Oh dear. I’m going to spend all night apologizing, aren’t I?” Ignis sighed.

“Oh no! He was utterly charming. Said three words the whole time! Made for a peaceful flight from Ravatogh.” Penny hoped that her sarcasm was coming through over the line and was rewarded with a snort from Ignis on the other end.

“That sounds like him. I presume that you were not held long?” Water ran in the background for a moment then was shut off. Metal clinked on some hard surface.

“Not held at all,” she corrected. “They could take me into custody, besmirch my blameless record, but they couldn’t hold me because…”

“Because you were necessary medical personnel. The flaw in the plan.” Ignis laughed softly. “Bless them, how they tried.”

“That they did.” She listened for a few seconds as his stove burner clicked on and he shuffled around in cabinets. Should she tell him any more now? Did she want to?

That wasn’t hard to answer. No, she didn’t really want to talk about this but it would be better for him to hear it from her. This… whatever they were doing with the regular phone calls and the talks about when he would make it back to Lestallum or what would she like to see the most, should she come to the Crown City? For this to have a chance to stay good then, like it or not, she needed to be the one to tell him.

“There’s other stuff in that report too,” she admitted.

“There usually is. And, from the sound of your voice, I take it that it isn’t the most pleasant thing to talk about?” A cup to the counter and the light slosh of water in the background were as soothing as his voice.

“No, not exactly. But only for me,” she managed to smile before she frowned. “I’ve been married twice. Neither ended well.”

The sound that he made was encouraging and attentive, even if it was muffled into a cup. “Best to just have it out, then?”

“Yeah,” she agreed with a sigh. “The first time I was too young, believed that I was in love, and just really stupid. We eloped when I was 18 and he used me as his punching bag for two years before I got out. There’s more to it than that but….”

“I think I’ve got the general idea.” His voice was icy and that helped a lot. If he got it then she didn’t have to go into the gorey details right now.

“But the second one was a lot better! Nick was my field team lead at the end of my EMT training. We married five months after I graduated.” Penny took a deep breath and let it out with a smile at the memory of Nick’s asking her out at the end of the graduation ceremony. While it had been awkward at the time, she’d never regretted rolling with it.

“Your voice tells me that you must have been happy,” Ignis laughed. “But…,” he trailed off into silence.

“We were,” she confirmed with a smile, closing her eyes to let a few of the happy memories linger in her mind before the inevitable trickle of sadness came. At least, it wasn’t as sharp anymore. Maybe it was age. Maybe it was maturity. Or maybe, maybe it was the fact that in the almost 13 years since, she had seen and felt enough horrors that she had simply become numb to suffering. Maybe it was all of that. “But then the Oracle summoned the Tidemother. Most of the city was evacuated but a few of us from the hospital decided the stay behind,” she licked her spoon, very much focusing on the here and now, “to help out the people who’d stayed. Somebody was going to get hurt, we knew. None of us expected it to be as bad as it was, though.”

They’d known that Niflheim was getting more aggressive. Everyone who stayed had been briefed on the possibilities when the Tidemother was called. But the two combined with whatever magic the Oracle had used? There had been no predicting that.

“He died. I don’t know how it happened, just that we’d been running towards a group of wounded guards when the bridge we were on got washed away. I survived with a broken arm and mis...” She stopped. Breathed in, then out again. Steadying herself. It might not hurt as much, but there was no need to make this quite so personal at this point. “They found him a week later, once the water receded.”

The silence across the line was respectful and stretched just the right amount of time before Ignis spoke, “I am sorry, my dear.”

Penny huffed a small laugh. “Thanks. Looking back, I think it was the suddenness that made it so hard at the time. We honestly hadn’t even  _ known  _ each other a whole year yet,” she mused. “It feels like that was a whole other  _ person  _ ago, now.”

“After the Night? It would surprise me more if any of us were the same people we were then.” She heard the gentle scraping of metal against glass and the stove being shut off. “Not to linger on painful memories but, in the spirit of fairness, this might be a reasonable time to mention that I lost my sight in Altissia during Niflheim’s attack.”

Penny blinked at her phone, “Really? You were there?”

“With King Noctis, as part of his retinue, yes.”

Penny had known of course that Ignis had been one of the late King’s advisors. She could hardly escape that bit of knowledge just from newsstands, but Gladio had explained it in a bit more detail. But that they were there…! 

“That makes sense,” she said as she considered the events of her past on a global scale completely for the first time. Insomnia had fallen and the Prince survived, so he would have had to have gone  _ somewhere _ . Altissia would have seemed like pretty neutral ground at the time.

Hindsight always clouded these things though. History would always be remembered slightly wrong because, by looking backwards, you knew the outcome. And it’s easier to see where you went wrong and so it’s easier to criticize.

Penny snapped back to the present when Ignis made a confused noise, “Oh, no! I didn’t mean it like that. I meant that it makes sense that you were there, not that you got hurt. Though,” she rushed on ahead, “if you stayed back with the city guard, maybe that’s understandable, too.”

“Not exactly but I was still in the city in the thick of it,” he admitted. 

“At any rate,” Penny shook off the pall of the conversation and brightened a little, “your new staff seemed to be very determined to do their job. That’s a good sign, I think.”

Ignis laughed outright, “I suppose they are. I do appreciate you not being offended. I wasn’t sure how you’d take being looked into so thoroughly. And without warning.”

“Like I said before, it’s to be expected, right?”

“Yes. I suppose so,” he sighed and his cutlery clinked against the dishes with a note of finality. “Your criminal past is all Cleignen so unless you have traffic tickets from Insomnia, I think you will be safe.”

“Ahh, then I can rest easy tonight. I never learned to drive!” Ignis sputtered into his cup and Penny laughed.

“You never learned to drive? Why not?” he asked, flabbergasted.

“Altissia. Boats, not cars?” Penny laughed again at his indignant noises. “And I can fly a Nif SAF if I have to.”

“Good grief but you’ve never driven a car.” The wonder in his voice was funny, but it was genuine. “You must have had quite the adventure to have actually flown an SAF. I’d love to hear about it.”

“It’s actually pretty dull. Well,” she reconsidered, “dull from my point of view. It started when the pilot who was responsible for picking me up at the rendezvous point for AWOL medicals just outside of Lestallum showed up with a head wound…”


	2. Driven To The Edge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ignis interviews drivers. Then has some welcome guests before failing to keep it together. Penny doesn't fare much better.
> 
> But that is nothing to the Amicitia Arm Flailing fit that will happen to Gladio.

“Your Excellency.”

The tone alone made Ignis want to hit the newly installed button beneath his desk and signal security to come remove this person from his office with all necessary force.

So patronizing, so smug. 

Instead, he lifted his head to the sound of their voice and nodded with what he hoped was a neutral expression. He would hear them again, but his answer would not change.

“You have been interviewing candidates for the past hour and a half. I assure you that we have a personnel department staff competent enough to take this decision off of your already full plate.”

Indeed, they did. In five months, they had managed to take a great deal off his already full plate. He was still maddeningly busy every moment of the day but at least he had his nights and most evenings back now. 

“I will not deny that the abilities of the Department of Personnel and Human Resources are invaluable in making my life, and the lives of the people of Insomnia, materially better.” A great many of those returning and new residents had found work thanks to those departments, so that was no overstatement. “but I remain unmoved. I have expressed my thanks to the head of security for kindly pre-screening everyone, and to the head of your department as well for doing the initial interviews and determining the most qualified for the position, but I will make the final decision for the position of my driver myself.”

Whoever this one was, at least they left it at that and didn’t press the issue. Perhaps his obstinacy on this subject was finally getting through all the thick heads. 

Honestly. You collapse from exhaustion one time and suddenly the entire city believes you helpless. That was nothing short of offensive.

Still, there was only one person left to interview and he expected them soon. A call had come through that they had been held up by, of all things, traffic. Ignis’s understanding of the layout of Insomnia wasn’t perfect - much remained in ruins and the streets he had known so well in younger days, sometimes didn’t exist anymore. But, it was his understanding that while repairs were progressing, it would be a long time before movement to all the parts of the city was anything like reliable.

At least the break gave him a chance to breathe for a few minutes. Enid’s nails scraped against the tiles as she got up from her spot beside him and stretched. “Fresh air, my dear?” Ignis offered and rose with her, gesturing in the direction of the balcony door in his office. 

Enid bumped his hand and trotted on ahead of him by a half-pace, nudging him so that he didn’t smack his face against the open door. Once in the sun, Enid sniffed the air and the edges of the balcony and Ignis thought hard about the candidates so far.

Most were perfectly acceptable. One was completely out of the question since he had caused Enid to suddenly stiffen with tension as soon as he came in. Another, while not completely out of the question, would have to be instructed to not offer Enid treats. Otherwise, they were a sea of similar traits attached to different voices and scents without nothing particularly outstanding about any of them. 

Though, he did like the young woman from near Cartanica. She had some background in mechanics, which would come in very handy in the future, should he make frequent trips to Lestallum. 

Which was becoming more and more likely with each passing week.

“Your Excellency?” His assistant called for him back inside. Then asked, mildly confused, “Enid?”

“Here, Rhys,” he answered and made for his office again.

“Sir, you do know that Enid is standing on the railing?” Rhys sounded genuinely worried.

“No but I am not surprised. I believe the scaffolding is within temptations distance below us now. She’s just curious.” And sure-pawed. She was an amazing animal despite being prone to heart-stopping antics.

Fortunately, Rhys was aware of this and managed to pull himself together quickly. “Your last interview is here.”

“Already? I expected him to be later than this after he called?”

“It seemed he found a way around that just recently opened.”

“That’s a mark in his favor, then. What’s his name?”

There was subtle shift in the air that Ignis knew. Rhys was about to say something that he wasn’t sure Ignis would like to hear. 

“Libertus Ostium, your Excellency. Previously of the Kingsglaive.”

Ignis went very still for a second, letting this news sink in. That was a name burned into his mind from the headlines of Insomnia’s downfall. And from the long years of darkness. Once a traitor, then a leader of the restoration, now a candidate for one of the jobs closest to the new leadership of Insomnia.

What strange turns the world was taking.

“Show him in. Enid,” Ignis snapped his fingers twice and Enid appeared at his side, back straight, her ribs pressed lightly against his leg.

The man passed the first test. Enid stayed relaxed, her tail swishing the floor once as the former Glaive entered the room and they navigated the appropriate introductions. 

Once seated and before Ignis could even open the interview, Ostium spoke first, “I don’t doubt my being here is a surprise to you. If it is an unwelcome one, I will leave.”

He was plain-spoken, the Galahd in his voice bringing back memories of Ignis’s younger days in training with many of the men and women that he must have joined with. Perhaps that forwardness would make this easier?

“Indeed, it is a surprise to me both for your interest in the position and in your having made it through the first several rounds of background checks and interviews.” Two could be candid and the longer he sat here with one of the few remaining Glaives, the more he thought that it was the best possible tactic.

Ostium chuckled and shifted in his seat, “To be honest, I didn’t realize I was applying to drive  _ you _ , Your Excellency. Until I got the letter for this interview, I thought it was just for a pool of drivers.”

Ignis leaned back in his chair and cocked his head to one side. “Truly?”

“Yes. The ad I answered only said that drivers were wanted. It never mentioned what for.” He paused for a moment before continuing. “I needed a change after a two story fall during the first one of the early trips back into the city.”

Ignis nodded. The first few groups to return to the Crown City had included Glaives and Crownsguard members as security for the surveyors who were assessing the damages. More than one person got hurt in the process. 

“I understand. Those were dangerous jobs. I got to have a short trip through a rotten roof on one of them myself,” Ignis admitted. “I just got a service dog out of it though.”

“A better deal than a stiff back, to be sure,” Ostium said with a smile. He then became serious again, “But as for the job, I’ll understand if you aren’t interested in me. I’m not so sure that I would be.”

“Don’t be so hasty,” Ignis said. He was already irritated with people assuming things for him today. He wasn’t going to allow it to begin again now. “Let’s discuss your credentials and I’ll ask you the same questions I asked everyone else. You’ve made it this far there is no point in wasting it.”

And a waste it was not. Thanks in part to his unusual history, Ostium’s abilities were more than up to par with what could be expected in a driver. He could, in short, drive anything - automatic or manual; steam, gas, or diesel; large or small; everything from busses to airships to the sleek black sedans that they were building a fleet of. There was, of course, the added benefit of him having been a Glaive and having been a Glaive who relied more on his weapons than the now-dissipated magic of the Crystal.

Also, he was reliable. Ignis thought to himself as he listened to the man talk about protecting one of the caravans from Hammerhead during the Night, that whatever he might have done in the past, he had committed himself fully to taking a different path afterwards. He remembered, in his last instructions to them as their King, Noctis insisting that the remaining Glaives be allowed to move on with their lives however they chose. 

Perhaps this was why?

Ignis made a mental note to seek confirmation of Ostium’s stories where he could. Perhaps Vyv would be able to help? He would find out soon enough.

The interview concluded with Ignis assuring him that he would hear something very soon since the need for a driver was pressing and Ostium took his leave. Almost as soon as the door was closed behind him, Ignis was on the phone with Vyv Dorden, scion of Meteor Publishing, to get as much information as he could. As he hung up the phone with Vyv’s promises of a speedy turnaround as a favor owed, Rhys came in again.

“Sir? Lady Iris and Mr. Argentum are here to see you, if you have the time. They say it won’t take long.” The clear disbelief in his voice was hard to ignore but seeing the two of them would be a nice distraction. And maybe Iris, with her connections all over Eos, would help him understand the situation with the Glaives.

“Show them in. I have plenty of time for the two of them.”

 

**

Ignis only just managed to not run across the lobby of his building to the elevator a couple of hours after saying goodbye to Iris and Prompto. He tapped his foot the whole way up the elevator and Enid judged him for it every time. 

He didn’t care. He had to get on the phone with Penny. To warn her, to prepare her, to… something for the absolute storm that was going to descend on Lestallum the next day.

He dropped into the uncomfortable chair next to the door and commanded his phone, “Call Penelope,” and waited what felt like forever until she picked up.

“Hey! Do you have a driver? Are they any good?” She teased.

“I’ll have a driver, I’m sure but I’ve got something more important to tell you first,” he insisted.

“Ignis, are you okay? You sound scared.”

“No,” Ignis felt something break loose inside of his chest. He’d been holding it together so well! “No, I’m not scared.” A laugh bubbled up and barked out before he could muffle it into his hand. “Oh Six, this is mad. I shouldn’t be laughing!”

“Ignis, get it together! Or don’t if you’ve finally gone off the deep end,” Penny laughed just because he was laughing.

“Not yet, though it feels closer than ever.” He took a couple of deep breaths and braced himself with a hand on the side table. “Gladio’s sister is coming to visit him tomorrow. And is bringing our friend, Prompto.”

“Oh, I’ve met them both I think. Does he know she’s coming? I saw him last night and usually he gets pretty excited when she’s coming?”

“No, he’s not aware of it. And the pair of them have some news to share with him.” He clapped his hand over his mouth in time to stifle his laugh. “This isn’t funny, I know it isn’t funny but it’s so  _ absurd _ .”

“Ignis….”

“Six. Penny, Iris is pregnant. And Prompto is the child’s father.”

The silence on the other end of the line was enough to set him giggling again. 

“I wasn’t aware that either of them…,” Penny chose her words carefully but didn't have to finish the question because Ignis finished it for her.

“Oh, no. They are both varying degrees of flexible about who they will take to bed. I understand that in this instance there was a considerable amount of alcohol involved and Iris’s curiosity got the best of her.” He had to stuff his fist in his mouth to silence another bark of laughter. This was the most unfunny thing in the world, why could he not stop laughing.

“Oh, well...” Penny said, leaving it open ended as she made inarticulate sounds of understanding before she went completely silent. “Ignis. Oh god, Ignis! Gladio is going to kill him!”

Her breathless panic only made Ignis laugh harder. “No, my dear,” he snickered. “Gladio will probably punch him for good measure but don’t worry. Iris can break every bone Gladio has.”

“WHY are you laughing? This isn’t funny!” There was something like panic in her voice. Probably going over all the horrible medical possibilities of two adult siblings trying to send one another to an early grave.

“I know, believe me! I know how not funny this is! But the whole thing is ridiculous! And Gladio is going to be so angry when he finds out they came to me first! And poor Danica is going to have to contend with all this being dropped in her lap! None of it is funny at all!” He admitted while laughing the whole time.

It seemed to be infectious because he could hear Penny stifling her own giggles as well. “Danica can handle it. She can handle anything. But oh, no.” Her giggles escalated. “No, no! I’m not going to dissolve like you have. But I can’t get the mental image of Gladio doing that flaily-arm-panic-thing out of my head!”

Ignis lost it at that, laughing outright, not trying to muffle the sound. He laughed until his sides hurt, until there were tears running down his face. “I know. I know,” he kept repeating until he’d gotten his breath again. “I have to be the worst person in the world. Laughing at one of my oldest friend’s anguish.”

It appeared that Penny had mastered herself with more ease then Ignis had as there was only the hint of a smile in her reply, “Given the friend’s reaction is so predictable and hilarious? I think you can be forgiven.”

A few more deep breaths and Ignis finally managed to calm down. “But in all seriousness,” he managed to get out without laughing again, “They will be there tomorrow afternoon. You might want to at least warn Danica that they are coming and have news. I worry more about her having to deal with the fallout than I worry about Gladio creating the fallout.”

Penny sighed, “I’ll do what I can. She’s coming over later.” She paused before asking, “Do you want to tell me about the Hunt for A Decent Driver?”

“Yes, it will be a nice distraction from the sudden drama, though that seems to have drama of it’s own involved.”


	3. Oh Dear....

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A conversation about movies and middle names proves revealing in more ways than one.

“... then Gladio felt even worse and I was forced to let him off the hook,” Penny concluded with a sigh. 

“How very kind you are to him,” Ignis intoned smoothly. “I would have kept going for at least another ten minutes, then brought it up several weeks later as an innocent and concerned inquiry.”

Penny snickered, "See, I knew I liked you for a reason. You can stay.”

“Ah, thank you so much. I was concerned,” Ignis replied with a smile. He leaned back against his chair and shrugged, though the only person who saw him was a disgruntled Enid. 

(In her opinion, bedtime had been hours ago and this was silly business, being awake and talking into the Not For Chewing Beep Box.)

“Gladio is my oldest friend and I love him dearly. He accidentally stepped on his baby daughter’s fingers and made her cry for five minutes. She wasn’t hurt in the slightest, she milked his worry long enough to get candy from him, and then happily went about her day,” he recapped. “It would be my duty as his friend to remind him of this every chance I got.” He paused, considering carefully before adding, "Also reward the child for her quick study of his weaknesses. She's a genius, this baby."

Penny’s snickers had turned into outright laughter at this point and she clapped a hand over her mouth to muffle the sound. “You will not hear any argument out of me.”

“Pity is that I can’t be there to do it, therefore I choose to be grateful that you are capable of carrying on in my stead, even if you are showing worrying signs of being a lightweight.” Ignis grinned along with Penny's laughter. "As much as you dislike him, you've just admitted to leaving him alone as soon as he buried his face in his hands and groaned miserably."

Ignis couldn’t help but laugh a little himself. Had little Laurea actually been hurt - had Gladio had on shoes at the time of the accident - this would be no cause for torment and laughter. But Ignis could easily imagine the paroxysms of excessive grief that Gladio had gone through and the subsequent manipulation by a child not even a year old to get what she wanted from the situation. 

Both were cause for laughter as far as he could tell.

"I don't  _ dislike _ him," Penny began as she moved through her kitchen in Lestallum, shifting things in the fridge.

"I know," Ignis interrupted gently. "You just don't trust him. I understand." 

And he did. He really, truly did. Gladio's progress the past few years had been remarkable. He was driven, dedicated, and committed to not putting himself in any situation that risked the life he'd built for himself and his family. His plunge into depression and addiction had been frightening. So sudden and complete and completely understandable. But his blackest times clashed painfully with Penny's memories and experiences and had been directed at her closest friend. Her continued mild distrust of him was equally understandable.

And also, not a topic they discussed if they could help it. They were friends, for sure. Perhaps something just a hair beyond friends. Penny sort of hoped they were, at least. But neither wanted to test the friendship with awkward discussions of past traumas. Not yet. Whatever this was that they were building a phone call at a time was too enjoyable to risk. The present mattered more than the past, anyway.

Penny blew out a puff of air and changed the subject. “That’s all the gossip for this week, I think. Other than the hospital FINALLY decided what to do with the funding that it got eight months ago.” Her eye-rolling was audible across the line. She finished in a more positive tone, “They are building on to the children’s wing and planning to expand in-home services.”

“Really?” Ignis asked, perking up. “You’ve said that the exodus from Lestallum had been quick but that medical care hadn’t been able to keep up. Does in-home mean that there will be staff making house calls?”

“Pretty much,” Penny said with a nod, shoving the bag of leftover anak tips out of the way. “Out towards Saxham and Maidenwater in particular, lots of people need basic care. Hopefully, this will help convince the hospital board that what would really help would be local clinics. Professionals nearby to set bones and vaccinate people.”

“Because if the information comes from professionals in the field, then they have to listen,” he finished the train of through for her. “I knew that Saxham was growing, but Maidenwater as well?” Ignis let his mental map settle into place. Maidenwater. Malmalam. Wildness and steep drop-offs. Extremely hungry bugs.

“Yeah. Sportsman types, mostly. A few survivalists?” Penny chuckled again, “ _ They _ don't want us around. But with Kimya Auburnbie deciding to stay in Lestallum, there’s nobody out there that knows more than basic first aid. It’s worrying, since they all hunt, hike, and fish. And the Thicket is right there with who knows what still lurking in it.”

Ignis hummed in agreement, recalling the dark recesses and eerie qualities of Malmalam Thicket in years gone by. It would stay Dark in places like that for a long time. 

He would have spent more time ruminating on that if Penny hadn’t dropped something that sounded very solid and cursed under her breath.

“Everything all right?”

“Yes, yes,” she assured him, an edge of annoyance in her voice. “Dropped a box of.... Something that might once have been edible but now appears to be sentient. Yikes.”

Ignis laughed, “Your fridge habits are deplorable!”

“Isn’t it charming,” Penny asked in her best impression of his ‘High Insomnian’ accent.

“Completely. I’m utterly overcome and will probably have to stay in bed all day tomorrow.” Ignis tried to not laugh outright and failed. “I shall bill you directly for all the smelling salts.”

“You do that!” She encouraged, giving up on the fridge and plopping down at her kitchen table. “But that’s everything I’ve got for this week,” she admitted as she calmed. “It’s been kind of normal here.”

“Likewise here,” he agreed, a slight frown tugging at his lips. This call had only been what? Half an hour at most? That wasn’t nearly as long as he’d like. “What should we talk about now?”

“Well, we’ve exhausted political maneuvering, embarrassing Gladiolus anecdotes, work, and public transportation. We might have to resort to talking about ourselves.” Penny gasped in mock horror at the thought. 

They didn’t usually do much of that. By unspoken agreement, they both focused on the present. It felt more productive, that way.

“The horror,” Ignis  deadpanned. “Here. I’ll start. What is your favorite color?”

“Seriously?” Penny replied in an equally flat voice. At his sound of affirmation, she heaved a sigh and thought. “Probably green. But not grass green, something a little darker. Pine trees. Or algae maybe.”

“Pond scum green. I’m taking notes for future birthday presents.”

“It’s a nice color,” she defended staunchly. “What’s your favorite?” 

“Can’t you guess? I’m truly wounded. We spent 5 days in each other’s company while I convalesced and you can’t even name my favorite color.” He sniffed gently but Penny could hear the hint of mirth in his voice.

“Not 'dissolving stitches blue' or 'sterile dressing white', I suppose?” She teased.

“Purple, actually.”

“Purple? Really?”

“You sound surprised.”   
“I sort of am. I don’t know why but I pictured you as more of a fan of teal or maybe that gray that’s more silver than gray.” Penny considered this for a moment then shrugged. “That’s probably just your coat though.”

“My coat is teal?” Ignis blinked for a moment, suddenly worried that he’d been walking around looking like a fashion disaster and no one had told him.

“No, it’s navy, but the lining is teal. That kind of deep-sea teal,” she clarified. 

“Oh good gracious, my heart almost stopped. To think if I’d been making speeches in a bright blue coat for years!” Ignis blew out a puff of air in relief. “Sometimes I wonder about the clothes I’m wearing, but that would be several steps too cruel from my tailors.”

Penny giggled again and shook her head. “Is this the part where I promise you that as a friend, I will not let you be seen in public looking awful?”

“Yes, please. It will be a great comfort to me.”

“Consider it promised, then.” She said with a smile.

“Let’s move on. What is the greatest movie of all time?”

“That’s easy.” Penny stated with cool confidence.  “The first Star Wars movie. From back in the late 720s?”

Ignis groaned, “No, surely not? You weren’t even born yet!”

She laughed, “Neither were you! What’s wrong with it?”

“There’s nothing  _ wrong _ with it, but there’s others that are better.” He shifted his position and let out a soft “Oof,” as Enid gave up whining at the door and hopped up on his lap.

“Like what? Name one that has more successful emotion in it than A New Hope,” Penny challenged.

“Return of the Jedi, for one. And Rogue One tells a better story than the whole series combined. Enid, please. That’s probably my spleen and it doesn’t need your foot in it.” Ignis groaned as he gave the dog a shove and she moved, but only just a little.

“Step on his face, Enid. His opinion is terrible,” Penny replied with a grin. “What’s your answer then? What is the best movie ever?”

“If you are going to encourage my service animal to violence against me, I’m not going to answer,” he hedged.

“Oh no, it’s really embarrassing isn’t it? Spaceballs?” She guessed with suppressed laughter.

“No. I just don’t want to wake in the morning to Enid holding a knife to my throat at your behest!”

“Oh, did you just love those sparkly vampire movies?” She teased.

“No! I think I just lost a brain cell  _ remembering  _ listening to them with Iris.”

“The Shape of Water. You don’t want to admit that you are a closet monster-fucker.” She whispered. 

“Penny, honestly,” Ignis began, his attempt at exasperation giving way to snickering, “I don’t understand how you and Gladio don’t get along better. You are both completely uncouth.”

“Yes, but I bathe regularly and I’m not sure that he does,” She giggled. “Come on. Now you’ve almost let this go too long. Much more guessing and things are going to get weird.”

“As if they aren’t already weird?” he asked. “You just asked me if I secretly wanted to have sex with a fictional fish man.”

“Which, I can’t help but notice, you did  _ not  _ deny,” she pointed out. Her cheeks were beginning to ache from the amount of time she’d spent smiling during this call. But that was part of the pleasure in talking to Ignis.

“I most certainly did not deny it.” Ignis said evenly, a note of pride in his voice. “The fish man is, by all accounts, a very admirable individual with a strong sense of what is right and just as well as a deep affection for Elisa.”  

“Hmm,” Penny hummed thoughtfully and added, “Yes, and he’s hot too.”

“You see…,” Ignis gestured expansively with the hand that wasn’t holding the phone and let his statement trail off.

Penny picked up his train of thought, “I do see. You have a very valid point. So is that the greatest movie ever made?”

“No. Casablanca is the greatest movie ever made,” he answered plainly. 

Penny paused to consider this for a moment, wondering if there was something in the fact that he picked an old, black and white romance that didn’t end very well as his favorite. That was far too much effort for this hour of the morning on an empty stomach. 

“Okay, I get the next question.” She surveyed the fruit bowl on the table in front of her. “Banana, apple, or pear?”

“Which do I prefer in general or are we comparing them?” Ignis asked without missing a beat. 

“Neither. Which do I eat? I’m starving and too braindead from a 12 hour shift to make decisions alone,” she moaned.

“Penny,” Ignis’s voice shifted from lighter tones to concerned in just one word. As much as he enjoyed their conversations, the idea of costing her sleep after a long day wasn’t appealing at all. “If I’m keeping you awake….”

“You aren’t,” she interrupted. “If I tried to go to bed right now, I'd lay there and stare at the ceiling for hours, too restless to get to get to sleep."

Ignis let it go, telling himself to trust her and be content that if she was too tired to keep talking, she would tell him.

“So, what am I eating, Master Chef?”

“A banana would be the least labor-intensive. Very little effort to chew,” he suggested. 

“Hm. Another valid point from you. You are on a roll. The pear is technically closer though,” she pointed out.

“And the apple has more fiber, meaning that you won’t get as hungry later. What a conundrum,” he mused. “Which do you like more?”

“Oranges. But those are in the fridge on the other side of the room.” Penny groused. “Banana it is, as I seem to have caught a bad case of the Lazies all of a sudden.”

“Sometimes it is best to give in to what your body demands,” he said with a small laugh. 

“Yes and mine is demanding that I stay right here in this chair and eat this banana like a good girl,” she stated as she peeled and bit into the fruit.

“You are wise beyond your years. I asked two, so the next is yours as well,” he added.

Penny considered for a moment, not wanting to ask something too personal but also wanting to know at least a little something more about him. 

“Well, I’d ask your guilty pleasures but we’ve both just owned up to having the hots for the fish guy,” she said between bites.

Ignis let out a bark of laughter that disturbed Enid and sent her to the floor, huffing and sighing. “Indeed we did!”

“Huh, what about your middle name? I’ve got several because I never dropped any so the whole thing is Penelope Callista Aspasia Margrace Wright Key.” That had to be the worst name ever. Too long, too foolish, and too old fashioned. And why had she never dropped her maiden or her first married last names? Did it get worse?

Ignis was already chuckling before she’d rattled off her laundry list of names. This was going to go one of two ways - it always did. He’d dropped his middle name in official documents because the tittering giggles had been too much to bear at 16 years old and the pity had rankled him. The mispronunciations has been completely insufferable. He wondered which camp Penny would fall into and seriously hoped it wasn’t pity. 

“Stupeo.” Best to keep the answer short and to the point.

“What?” She asked, disbelief plain in her voice.

“My middle name is Stupeo.”

There was a long beat of silence followed by the sound of Penny taking a deep breath as if to speak but instead he was given more silence. 

He wasn’t completely certain what he was hoping for in terms of her reaction, but as the silence stretched on, nearing a full minute, he found that there was a little twist of anxiety forming in the pit of his stomach. When she finally spoke, he let out the breath that he didn’t know he’d been holding.

“Ignis?” her voice was quiet, tentative, gentle. It did nothing to relieve the knot in his belly.

“Yes?”

“I thought you told me that your parents loved and doted on you,” she said very seriously.

The beat that it took for him to register what she’d said was a heavy one before he leaned back in his chair and laughed.

The sound of her laughter on the other end of the line released the last threads of tension that had built up past a reasonable level. Maybe he would think about why that had happened later, but for now, it was just nice to have a good laugh with someone who seemed to understand.

“They do! Though less with the doting now,” he explained. “But it is a family tradition. My mother only had one brother and 3 sisters, so one of us had to get saddled with it.”

“All my parents were trying to do is get money naming me after distant rich relatives,” she said with a grin. “It didn’t work,” she added with a yawn.

“Ah-ha,” Ignis said with a snap of his fingers. “You are tired and I am keeping you awake.”

“That was the first one,” Penny defended, tossing her banana peel in the direction of the compost box and frowning when it missed. “It proves noth….” She trailed off as another yawn gave her away.

“You should go to bed,” he advised, “And so should I. It’s just past midnight here and I have to be up early to meet the representatives from the northern edges of Insomnia. They arrived this afternoon, but I’m hearing their reports tomorrow.”

“That sounds exciting,” Penny said, clearly not excited at all.

“It isn’t, but it is necessary. That region is less damaged but more remote. We have to decide if that is the direction we want to expand next,” he explained.

“Ease versus access. Not an easy decision, I take it?” It seemed to Penny that Insomnia got larger and larger every time she heard more about it. She wondered how big it was, compared to somewhere she already knew the size of. She’d have to look it up.

“It never is. And getting enough people to agree is even more challenging. Hence why I’ll need my wits about me.” Ignis sighed. He didn’t mind the work, but things that seemed so simple to him seemed to present so many problems to others. It would be easier to just bring down the hammer and dictate it all, but that would do no one - not himself nor the people of Insomnia - any good at all. 

“Then off you go, and off I go too,” she said as she stood up, crossed the floor, and scooped the banana peel in the compost. “Sleep well, and I ‘ll talk to you in a few days.”

“Absolutely. Sweet dreams,” Ignis wished her before adding, “Of the fish man.”

“Oh my god, Ignis!” She laughed.

It was a good sound to end the day on.


	4. So Close Yet So Far

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The lead-up to their first meeting face to face in months, and how it doesn't pan out as they'd hoped.

On Friday afternoon, Gladio called Ignis, hoping that he wasn’t interrupting anything important. “Hey.”

“Hey, yourself,” Ignis smiled back through the line. “Are we still on for next weekend?”

Gladio laughed and if there was just a hint of self-depreciation in the sound then that could be forgiven. It wasn’t exactly the city picnic they were gathering for. “I was calling to ask you the same thing.”

“I wouldn't miss it for the world. Also,  Prompto is riding in with me. But, I understand Iris is not?” The question in Ignis’s voice was crystal clear.

“Yeah, she’s coming from Caem. Been out there helping Cor and Monica get settled in,” he explained. “She’ll be here though. Probably a little behind you and Prom.”

“Ah! Good,” Ignis nodded before venturing an even, “I’m looking forward to this, you know.”

Gladio stood up and rolled his shoulders backwards, feeling his spine pop as he started to pace around the Leville office. He snorted and heckled in return, “No joke? Bet Penny is, too.” That wasn’t fair. He knew he was just trying to avoid the subject again. So, before Ignis could even get his mouth open to call Gladio’s bluff, he called it himself. “Ahh... sorry. Gotta give you a hard time, Iggy. I’m looking forward to it too. S‘not everyday a guy manages to make it to sober for three years.”

“You are very right,” Ignis agreed heartily without a hint of reproach in his voice. 

Gladio was grateful for that. He took a minute to thank the Six for whatever he’d done right to have a friend like Iggy after all these years. But, that didn’t stop him from asking, “About Penny or about staying clean?”

“Gladio,  _ really... _ .”

______

 

Sunday evening, having planted himself firmly in the most comfortable chair in his living room, Ignis set his plate on the side-table, pressed and held the number 2 on his phone’s lock screen. He flicked on the tv as the phone rang.

“Tell me I’m not late,” he begged when Penny’s voice came through on the other end. 

“You aren’t, though just barely. It’s only just starting.” She bit into something crunchy and added, “Opening credits are almost done.”

“I’m so sorry, darling. We got held up on the 81st.” 

“It happens,” she said with a smile. “As punishment you can sing along with Cell Block Tango.”

“Oh, that’s not punishment,” Ignis said seriously. He dropped his voice into a stage whisper as the first lines of the film began, “That’s a pleasure!”

And sing along he did, earning a round of applause from Penny and a series of appreciative oohs and ahhs at his near-perfect Ulwaatian recitation of Katalin’s lines. Of course, her rendition of Roxie was a delight to him as well, even if she did get the giggles in the middle.

Once the movie was over, he held the phone between his shoulder and ear as he walked his licked-clean-by-Enid plate to the dishwasher. “This was fun,” he admitted with a touch of surprise.

“You didn’t think we could actually watch a movie together, did you?” She teased.

“I had my doubts, yes,” he admitted reluctantly. “And I still think that we could have streamed one more easily.”

“Maybe next time we will,” Penny conceded. “I keep forgetting that you are at the mercy of an entire city’s worth of people.”

“And for that I am eternally grateful. If I never have to field emergency phone calls from panicked diplomats on a Sunday afternoon again, it will be too soon.” He rinsed his plate and placed it carefully into the dishwasher, counting the dishes already in there before deciding he could wait until after breakfast to run it. 

“But, you do have a vacation coming up,” she reminded him.

“Yes, I do,” he smiled, leaning against the counter with a sigh. “And for such an important reason.” He paused for a moment before continuing pointedly, “I understand that the company will be excellent, as well.”

Penny’s burst of laughter made something with fluttering wings tickle the back of his throat. 

“I’ll be sure to tell Caris that you are excited to see her,” Penny said, casually as she could around her laughter. “She’s talked about ‘Uncle Iggy coming to visit again’ almost non-stop since Gladio told her you were coming.”

“Poor Prompto! He will be disappointed to be unseated as her favorite uncle.” Ignis mused, “I will be there for three days and Gladio’s celebration is the first night. I do hope that I will not be so monopolized by a toddler that I can’t squeeze in a few moments with you.”

“I’m sure I can pencil you in between my pedicures and your third tea party,” Penny hummed before switching gears, “But seriously, I’ve taken Saturday night off. I don’t quite understand why he wanted me there as I’m not exactly his greatest cheerleader but you won’t believe what he told me.”

“Tell me, I might surprise you.”

“He told me that all the cheerleaders in the world weren’t always enough and sometimes having someone to feel spiteful towards helped. Particularly in the early days of getting clean.” Penny shook her head and sighed. “He seems to have had a lot of anger he needed to direct somewhere, and I was happy to have it, then!”

“Oh no,” Ignis said gravely. “It sounds like you might actually be willing to be  _ friends  _ with him. Penelope, are you unwell?” He was pleased that he managed to hold back the outright laughter that threatened to burst his ribcage. 

“Oh, you! I would throw this pillow at your head if you were here!”

“Patience, patience! Just a few more days and you can.” Though if he was strictly honest, he rather hoped that she would opt for something more traditionally affectionate. 

If it felt right.

If she wanted to.

He really hoped that she wanted to.

 

______

 

It started on Wednesday morning.

At first, it was just a tickle in the back of her throat when she woke up that ended up working itself into a dry cough by nighttime. Penny took a swig of cough syrup and went to bed early, confident that it was just a cold. Occupational hazard, after all.

Thursday morning, at the obscene hour of 3am, she gasped awake, sneezed, and stood up before doubling over in a hacking fit of rattling, wet coughing that caused her to nearly pee her pants. Once she’d caught her breath, and actually used the toilet properly, she assessed her symptoms and had to admit  that there was nothing else this could be.

The cough. The inability to breathe like a human. That tell-tale ‘illness’ feeling-slash-taste between her throat and her ears. She had seen 2 cases of the season's influenza already this week. They were so far out of hand that it had turned into pneumonia, and she did not want to be the next. She immediately called in to work for the remainder of the week and called Danica the next morning to let her know not to come by the house for a while.

In self-imposed quarantine, her Friday was uneventful save for the ever-growing size of the wads of mucus she was either coughing up or blowing out if her nose. Her voice had gone from scratchy to weak to non-existent. Friday night, full to sloshing of canned soup, she went to bed and woke up four times too hot, bathed in sweat, and shivering. The fifth time, she knew she needed to text Danica to let her know she couldn't make Gladio’s anniversary celebration.

Danica was as Penny expected, worried but ready to help even in the early morning hours. She also had to be convinced to not come right over to set up the humidifier and get Penny a hot water bottle. Penny was so glad to have plenty of very good reasons to keep her friend far away right just then. Because as much as she loved Danica, having to talk about how disappointed she was, how angry and bitter and yes, if she was honest with herself: depressed at the thought of missing her only chance in eight months to see Ignis was more than her feverish brain could handle. If she had to suffer with the idea of being cursed in lov….

No, no, no. No matter how delirious or sleep deprived she was she wasn’t about to jinx whatever this… THING was they had by calling it love. She liked him, yes. Liked him a lot, yes. Way more than just friendly lets-watch-the-same-movie-several-hundred-miles-apart. Liked him well enough to actually make the effort to flirt with him. Correction - liked him enough for flirting with him to not actually require any effort at all! 

But no, this was not love. Not by any stretch. Even if she didn’t get the chance to try to figure out if it might, maybe, someday, potentially get there, there would be other chances. 

She hoped there would. 

Before they were both old and gray.

Or eaten by their jobs. 

Her sniffling then had not been because of the flu and she’d fallen asleep struggling to breathe even more than she had been before. Crying when sick did that, sometimes.

She had no recollection of Saturday at all other than waking up long enough to medicate herself again, have some water straight from the sink in the bathroom before going back to bed.

 

______

 

“... and you’ve not gone to check on her?” Ignis was truly alarmed. Penny had sounded fine on Sunday, how was it that less than a week later she was down with the flu?

And what was the world coming to that the head nurse of the Lestallum Hospital’s Emergency Department actually got the flu in the first place?

That was his own frustration and anxiety talking. Of course she had her flu shot and had hounded him half to death until he’d confirmed that he had his as well. And, of course,  yearly flu vaccines were, at best, guesses at which strains of the illness would come to the fore in any given year. It was completely understandable that she’d become ill. 

But the injustice of it all was hard to bear. 

“No. I tried yesterday but she told me that if I came she would stab me with a fork,” Danica explained. 

“Vicious, but I suppose with your children so small and Iris on her way, it makes sense.”

Ignis felt the look that passed around the room, between Gladio, Danica, and Prompto without needing to see it. They had to be three of the worst people about not projecting their feelings. Perhaps he should be grateful for that.

“What are you not telling me?”

“Well, it is partly about the girls and partly about Iris. But,” Gladio started.

Danica finished, “It would be easy enough for me to sanitize myself after going, but there’s a strong possibility that I’m pregnant again, too. And the first few months are the most dangerous, in terms of infectious diseases.”

Ignis blinked and took in this information. All in all, it was not at all surprising but the collective breath-holding meant that he was probably giving the impression that he was angrier than he actually was about Danica’s failure to check on her friend. Ignis mentally adjusted and removed his feelings from the conversation, even if he couldn’t turn them off completely.

He would have to examine that, later. When he was alone.

“Oh, Gladio really?” he said with a weary slump of his shoulders. “Surely you’ve figured out what causes this by now? Or perhaps Prompto needs to take you aside and explain it?”

That seemed to do the trick. Prompto made some alarmed choking noise, Danica broke out into a fit of laughter, and Gladio rushed to defend himself and his knowledge of procreation, without actually saying anything about sex in the presence of his two children, both under the age of five.

But it was Iris’s entrance in the middle of it all that effectively removed all focus from Ignis. Clearly pregnant and freshly returned from Cor and Monica’s relocation from Lestallum to their newly built house at Cape Caem, she dropped a bombshell that shifted every bit last bit of attention away from Ignis, Penny, and his reaction to her illness and absence.

“So, were none of you ever going to tell Cor that Noctis is under the bluff at the Cape? Because let me tell you, he’s as mad as I’ve ever seen him when he found the shrine by himself.”

Her announcement and the marking of Gladio completing the first (and hardest) three years of his sobriety occupied Ignis’s mind for the remainder of the night. It also took no time at all for him to make up his mind before he fell asleep in the small hours of the morning. He would take himself to check on Penny the next morning.

 

______

 

“Absolutely not.” It was the tone that Danica used when she caught Caris attempting to push Laurea’s crib down the stairs so that ‘sissa can visit too.’ The tone that she used when Gladio was hatching some hairbrained scheme like knocking a door between their house and the side wall of the Leville so his commute in the mornings didn’t make him walk in the rain. 

In short, it was a voice that brooked no opposition and was not meant to be questioned. Ignis was aware of this, having a mother with very similar tactics, but he did not care.

Well, not for Danica's opinion right then. He cared much more than he'd realized for Penny.

“Why should I not?” Ignis was aware of the fact that he should just leave this alone. His insistence would only spark more backstairs conversations between his friends and that was not something he cared to think about.

As well-meaning as they were, if Gladio did not stop with the near-constant wheedling about Penny being his girlfriend, and if he and Prompto suddenly shushing their conversations whenever Ignis came into the room, he was going to run mad through the streets.

If they must talk, he would have preferred them to have something to talk about!

No. Wait. That wasn’t quite right.

Oh, Six he was a mess.

Ignis took a deep breath and tried again, “You are unable to go, and by extension so is Gladiolus. Prompto hasn’t even had a flu shot yet, and Penny and Iris barely know one another. She has been ill for several days…,”

“And has been texting me regularly the whole time. If she really needed anything, she would let me know,” Danica interrupted kindly, putting a hand on his arm. “I’m not going to let you go, Ignis.”

“How do you propose to stop me, my dear?” he asked just as gently before he could stop himself. 

Danica shifted beside him, her phone making the tiny hums and clicks as she activated it and began to read, “Nine September, seven thirty-four am. Actually breathing again, praise the drugs. Hungry, too. It’s still a mess here, so don’t come ‘til I can disinfect.”

“That hardly…,” Ignis began before she talked over him and continued.

“Seven thirty-nine am. Good sweet cheeks! I’ll put soup on the back porch if you’ll tell me what kind. Also, pls advise as Gladio thinks Ignis is going to try to come see you.”

The only downside to knowing someone most of your life is that they too had known you most of your life and thus tended to be able to predict your reactions. Ignis raised an eyebrow in an invitation for Danica to continue.

“Seven fifty-three am. NO! Test results came back and this isn’t one of the strains in the vaccines. I refuse to be a vector. Sit on him if you have to. Or make Gladio do it.” Her phone hummed again and Danica added, clamming up, “I’ll spare both your dignity and hers the rest of the conversation, but trust me, she doesn’t like it either.”

Ignis inhaled slowly and drummed his fingertips on his knee, thinking about all the things he had hoped would happen on this trip. Yes, coming to celebrate with Gladio had been the goal, and Ignis took immense pleasure in having his oldest friend still here, functioning, fighting now with his own deamons and winning, just has he had against the physical ones in their youth. Nothing would change his pride in Gladio’s intelligence, resilience and dedication at getting his life back on track after it derailed so badly once Noct was really gone. 

But celebrating with Gladio had been just that: a celebration of how far he had come, the hard work he had put in, and the place that he found himself in now. It was an acknowledgement of the past and a deep breath with him before he plunged into the future. It was about Gladio’s accomplishments and Gladio’s hard work. 

It left the rest of the weekend for Ignis to catch up with Prompto and Iris, spend time with Gladio’s children. And to test the waters with Penny. Because they had gotten along so well over the phone and across the distance, he just wanted to know if that would translate into the same connection - that comfortable, familiar sort of understanding one another - in person. 

He felt guilty, being let down about that one part when there was so much more to this weekend than just that. But it had been the part he had looked forward to with hope and anticipation. Danica must have understood that on some level and took mercy on him, patting his shoulder and interrupting his rumination. 

“PenPen did say that she wanted peppered fish soup. If you want, I’d love to have your help making it. She knows I’m not great with peppers, I put in either too much or too little every time. I’m pretty sure you won’t make that mistake.”

Ignis nodded. “I would be happy to, on one condition.” The look Danica gave him was palpable, waiting to shoot down any more foolish ideas. “You must explain both ‘sweetcheeks’ and ‘PenPen’ to me.”

Danica’s laugh, so bright and infectious it was impossible to not smile in return, shook the couch. “Of course! First, sweet cheeks. Explaining PenPen will take longer *and* will embarrass me.”


	5. Finally

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At last, at last!
> 
> Also, the reveal of why Danica is a bit embarrassed about the events that gave the three girlfriends their nicknames. And introducing Beck, at least the theory of her.

There were two messages waiting for Penny when she finally managed to park herself for lunch, a solid hour after she’d been scheduled to go. No surprise on the hold up; that was the nature of emergency medicine. So while the last of the day-before-yesterday’s spaghetti heated in the breakroom microwave, she got caught up with what amounted to her social life.

SMS Peck 🐓: PenPen is this bone human and if so what bit did it come off of?

The attached picture almost made her snort water out her nose. Lanky Beck was sitting on the ground in Gralea - the grit and grime of the city making her standard-issue reflective orange jumpsuit look like a beacon. She was holding what indeed did look like a human femur, displaying it like some kind of fine relic next to her face. Which was wearing the most sultry expression that Beck could manage (which meant she actually looked like she was taking a very contemplative shit in the street.)

Penny texted back that she was sure it was a thigh-bone and that Beck looked extremely fetching in the orange. The instant reply back was another fabulous pose, Beck’s lips pursed and one eye closed while she gave Penny a rude hand gesture.

Ahh, how she missed Beck and her sense of humor. Maybe in a few months, Beck would get clearance to leave Gralea but that depended on how well contained they thought any lingering threat from the plasmodia was. There was another baby around since she had left, and foisting babies off on Beck was so much fun. Though by the time Beck made it back, Danica and Gladio’s youngest might be more of a toddler than a baby. Still, subjecting Beck to small children would more than make up for all the pictures of bones and odd goop in beakers and the whole ‘graffiti or bloodstains?’ game.

The other message was from Danica and when she opened it, her stomach flipped. 

SMS: Muffin⬆️: Guess who just arrived? 👀

The image attached was taken in the Leville’s lobby from behind the concierge desk, looking towards the street. Framed by the open doors and lit by the midday sunlight was the Insomnian Premiere, Ignis Scientia, accompanied by his driver (who’s name was right on the edge of her memory but wasn’t going any further) and his ever-faithful Enid.

Danica had really outdone herself with this picture. Penny wished she had half of her friend’s ability to take pictures like this with a phone. The lighting, the angle, everything was just perfect to really make the most of both the setting and the subject.

But that was just a ploy to distract herself from the fact that _ he was here _ . He’d come back, much sooner than anyone had expected, and it was pretty much because of her. That was a lot to take in while staring at a small but admittedly perfect photograph, taken with an 8 year old cell phone, from too far away to actually be reasonable.

Okay, she really needed to get a grip on herself. The microwave dinged and she whirled, quick to shove her phone in her pocket and grab her food. And set the food down again immediately because the container was too hot.

Right.

Deep breaths.

Use the exhale to cool off her pasta. She wasn’t a teenager anymore, for crying out loud.

But it had only been three weeks since he’d been here last. Before that, it had been 8 months. He was the guy in charge of running an entire country, and here he was almost meeting himself coming back! He didn’t say it outright when talked about his return, but the fact that he’d said he’d ‘managed to rearrange a few appointments’ made Penny think that he probably canceled a lot of things or probably overbooked himself to get here so soon.

To see her.

That sounded like it should feel heavier in her mind than it actually did. Maybe if it had been anyone else, it would come with a lot of expectations and a bad case of the nerves. And, while she was nervous about actually being in the same room with him for the first time since they met, it wasn't like they were strangers.

Which, even in her mind, was a weird way of putting it. When he’d come in September for a long weekend, the unspoken agreement between them was to mark Gladio’s sobriety, then see how they got along together in person. Because they both knew they got along like a house on fire at a distance. But then Penny came down with the flu and the whole thing had gone up in smoke. 

Which was how it went from being the unspoken plan to being something they had talked about, once he got back to Insomnia and once she’d gotten her voice back enough to call. Her heart had been in her throat for most of that conversation - the frank admission of that she was definitely interested in him romantically, based on one meeting and several months of phone calls (and only realizing it after her crying jag when she hadn't gotten to see him,) had felt like a serious risk.  What they already had was really nice and she didn't want to lose it, whatever it was.

Ignis's quick reply returning her feelings had been a massive relief. It had also made her want to squeal into her pillow like she was 16 again, but she managed to refrain until they hung up for the night.

Maybe the nerves were because this was such a strange situation to be in? After they had met earlier in the year and spent two weeks in the same very small social circle, weekly phone calls had turned in to twice-weekly, then into almost daily chats. Once he had figured out how to get his text messages to only play with permission, they had even been texting each other.

Sometimes hourly, if he wasn’t in a room full of people. Neither wanted their conversations broadcast to the world at large.

The past week, they had talked almost constantly until Ignis had called to tell her he was heading for Lestallum just before her shift started at 3am. 

And she’d done a really good job of not thinking about him all day. Granted, it had been a busy morning of boating mishaps from the Vesperpool, a car crash on the Bypass, and one of the shift leads at the power plant nearly losing a finger, but now that she had a chance to breathe and knew that he’d made it here?

Well. Now Penny was doing a really good job letting the anticipation get to her. And she still had three more hours of work to go. And if the sirens in the distance were any indication she needed to get that in check, quick. 

Not a problem at all. After one more quick glance at that picture and a return of Danica's eyes-emoji, she tossed her phone back in her locker, tightened her ponytail, and headed back out onto the floor.

Five hours, a quick shower, and a call to Ignis later, she was  _ finally  _ crossing the yard between her back garden and the Leville’s back door. She was already so tired that the butterflies from her lunch break had worn off. 

Almost. 

They came back full force when she rounded the back hall corner around to see the lobby doors standing open with a nearly perfect view of Ignis, talking with Gladio, Enid at his feet submitting gracefully to Caris’s insistence on brushing her.

Penny wondered if Danica had set that up but didn’t have much brain power to consider it because Gladio had spotted her and said something to Ignis causing him to stand up, turn her direction, and (Six damn him) smile.

Had he always been that tall? That…  _ lithe _ ? The pictures of him in the news always focused on his face, usually when he was giving some speech or another, so that smile that could drop panties the world over was never on display in those.

And she did NOT need to be thinking about that right now, no sir. Penny took several deep, soothing breaths as she headed down the hall thinking about cold showers.

“I am so sorry,” she apologized, her face breaking into a grin as she all but floated across the floor into Ignis’s outstretched arms, letting him fold her into a hug that felt like something out of a period romance novel. “We had a patient get violent and oh my god the paperwork when that happens....!”

_ Oh my god he smells so good,  _ Penny thought, actively restraining herself from sniffing him in the few seconds that the hug lasted. If Gladio hadn't been there, it would have felt like the most natural thing in the world to kiss him. 

“You aren’t hurt, are you?” Ignis’s brows knit together and the hand that he'd let rest at her elbow tightened gently.

“Oh gosh no," she waved away his concern with a laugh. "Security's never far away but there was some damage to hospital property and I had a front row seat for the whole thing." Ignis's thumb grazed over the skin just under the edge of her shirt sleeve.

Maybe she *needed* a cold shower. Penny hoped that she wasn't projecting her hyper-awareness of every move he made to the whole of the Leville.

The office door closed behind her and Penny turned, giving Danica a smile and reaching out to tickle baby Laurea, clinging to her mom’s neck. 

“Hey you made it! I was about to send a search party after you,” her friend teased, giving her shoulder a gentle punch. “Do you two wanna have dinner with us? I’ve had a roast in the slow cooker all day.”

Penny opened her mouth to reply but Ignis got to it before she did, “Actually I was wondering if the Beanmine is open?”

This time it was Danica’s turn to interrupt before Penny could answer. "Yeah! And this early on a Friday it won’t be too busy. Things don’t get too wild until shift change at the plant; around nine.”

“Then if you don’t object…,” Ignis trailed off, turning his head to Penny in an offer she had no intention of refusing.

She nodded, humming her agreement. “Not at all. It’ll be nice to breathe fresh air for a while.”

Danica and Gladio gathered up their children and said their goodbyes, waving Penny and Ignis out the front doors of the hotel. 

It was nice to be outside for more than a few minutes, even if breathing in the Lestallum humidity wasn’t all that easy. Penny stayed quiet, not because she wasn’t sure what to say but because she wasn’t sure what to say first.

Finally, she settled on asking, “Ditched your guard for the evening? Or is Enid The Fierce all you need?”

Ignis let out a small laugh and shook his head, “If only I could. They insisted on me bringing at least two security staff with me, so that is all I brought.”

He offered her his hand and she took it, lacing her fingers with his and revelling in how good that felt. Maybe…. No. She wouldn't get ahead of herself in daydreams now that he was here.

“They are either slacking off or doing a fantastic job,” she shrugged. “I can’t see anyone out of place. Nary a fancy earpiece in sight!”

“If it is the latter then I congratulate them on their understanding that we are not in the Crown City anymore,” he said gravely, “And if it is the former, then I am more pleased than I can express. Enid will see to it that I don't get kidnapped. ”

At the sound of her name in Ignis’s affectionate tone, Enid’s ears perked up but her focus did not waver from her job which, at that moment, involved nudging Ignis clear of the Leville fountain's rim.

By the time they made it the short distance to the Beanmine, Penny's butterflies had taken the night off and she breathed a sigh of relief. It was so easy to be around him. Ignis's calm was contagious and so was his smile, his laugh. Maybe this wasn't going to be weird at all. 

No sooner had she had that thought, Ignis took the trouble to pull her chair out for her. “You really don’t have to do that,” she assured him, feeling her face go pink.

“No but I gave it some thought and realized that I would probably have one chance to do it before you told me not to,” he grinned at her, triumphant. “Let it never be said that I will not take an opportunity when I realize it is there.”

“You’re terrible,” Penny laughed and Ignis agreed with a slight shrug and a nod. “What are you in the mood for,” she continued, looking down at the menu critically.

After a pause, one she barely registered, he leaned forward slightly and asked, sotto voce, “Would now be the time to make some suggestive remark? Or would you prefer I refrain?”

Her blush, which had been cooling off, flamed back into life and Penny put her hand to her forehead to shield the worst of it from the handful of people in the square. “I walked right into that one didn’t I?”

Ignis smiled like the cat who’d gotten the cream and gave her a slight nod. “You did, my dear.”

“Please keep all suggestive commentary to yourself for now,” she said, biting back a laugh. “I can't handle it with any grace at all in public.”

“I also won’t touch that one, though it is almost physically painful not to” he assured her with a wink. Shifting gears he continued, “Are the peanut skewers on offer today? Wait, are you allergic to peanuts? I remember that you are allergic to something but I’m sorry to admit I’ve forgotten what.” 

“Peanuts are fine, it’s those weird blue sweet potatoes that set my fingers on fire and make my face swell up,” she corrected. “And yeah, the skewers are on here. What do you want with them? There’s the usual suspects in terms of fries, broccoli, and some strange casserole that looks like it involves cheese and pineapples...”

“Ah, the Galdin Crisp? I haven't had that in years. It’s delicious.”

“I’ll leave you to it then,” Penny said, pulling a face. “Sounds gross.”

Ignis gave her a hard time, scoffing at her lack of adventurous taste until the waitress came to take their orders and remove the menus. She was back a few minutes later with a basket of steaming bread and their drinks before leaving again.

Penny watched Ignis as he arranged his silverware and cup just so on the table, trying very hard not to get distracted by his hands. In an effort to stay in the present, she asked, “How was your trip?”

“Far too long,” he began, “but I did get several phone calls made that will make next week’s meetings easier. I also read over the proposal for a second hospital in one of the fastest growing areas of the city.”

“Now that I would like to see,” she said.

“Ah, but have you signed our brand new non-disclosure agreement?” He asked before pausing and frowning slightly. “I wonder if Libertus has signed that yet? Too late now, I suppose. He's heard the whole thing, now."

“That’s his name,” Penny declared, snapping her fingers. “It’s been bugging me all afternoon.”

“My driver’s name has been bothering you all afternoon,” Ignis intoned, curious. 

Penny took a drink of her water and explain, “Danica let me know you got here safe and sound via a picture. He was in the background.”

“I’m sorry I missed that. I assume,” he leaned forward again conspiratorially, “that she did that on purpose?”

“Given that it arrived about the time I was supposed to be heading to lunch? Absolutely,” Penny confirmed. 

“Good woman. I knew I liked her for a reason.” He tore off a bit of bread and offered it to Enid who had stationed herself at his feet in the shade of the table. "I imagine her photographs are less blurry than mine."

"Yes," Penny confirmed thoughtfully. "But blurry or not, Enid is still the Best Girl in the world."

Ignis's shoulders shook as he stifled his laughter. "I did honestly try to switch the camera mode, you know."

"I know you did." Was she giggling? She was. "That's what made it funnier."

"I still blame you for the whole thing," he insisted, without malice. "'It can't be that bad of a haircut. Take a picture and send it to me,'" he quipped. "Honestly!"

"You're the one that keeps taking pictures, though!"

Ignis's adventures with his phone camera had become a running joke in the past few months. And it only got funnier the more he kept it going. Blurry Enid, selfies that Ignis wasn’t actually in, and the occasional rug made up the bulk of what she got. However, more than one remarkably well-aligned shot of the sunset from his office window belied his actual abilities - when he tried. 

"Yes, because it makes you laugh," he explained as the waitress returned with their meals. When she left again, he continued, "And your laughter is one of my favorite sounds."

Penny let out an appreciative sigh. "Oh, that was very smooth. I'm impressed."

"Thank you. I do try."

"You do very well. I think I'll keep you."

"Pineapple, cheese, and all?"

"Maybe," Penny teased. "We'll have to see how the dish ages."

"So much for not being able to handle suggestiveness in public." Ignis dipped his head, raised his eyebrows, and gave her a look over the top of his glasses.

"I can't handle yours, no," she admitted. "Too charming for your own good. Or mine, probably," she added thoughtfully.

Ignis feigned shock and the rest of the meal passed in companionable conversation with everyone ending up well-fed and pleased with both themselves and their company. Particularly Enid who considered herself the luckiest dog in the world to have gotten a piece of skewer for her very own.

If Ignis’s new friend meant more treats, she could stay. Enid would have to remember to not lay on her shoes. It didn’t make sense to annoy her if Enid could get more treats.

Once the check was delivered to the table, Penny and Ignis both put a hand on it at the same time.

“Now look,” Penny began.

“No, I insist,” Ignis said at the same time.

The stalemate existed for a good three seconds before Penny, not letting go of the check, suggested, “How about this. I pay for dinner tonight and you leave the tip. Tomorrow, you can buy me lunch and I’ll leave the tip.”

“I was planning on making you lunch tomorrow,” Ignis countered, sounding surprised. 

“When do you have to leave?”

“Sunday morning.”

“We make dinner together tomorrow night,” she offered.

Ignis considered, tapping his index finger on the table so that he didn’t have to let go just yet. “I didn't think you knew how to cook?”

“Low blow! I know how to cook,” Penny said with a huff.

“Then why do you never do it?” Ignis shook his head at her intake of breath as she began her defense. “Microwaving an egg doesn’t count as cooking.”

“I don’t have time to be making four course meals when I’m working twelve hours a day,” she pointed out, tugging the check a little closer.

“Or fifteen.” Ignis gave her a small smile. “Dinner tonight is yours, lunch tomorrow is mine. Dinner tomorrow night is ours.”

“Deal.”

“Deal.” Ignis lifted his fingertips off the check.

Penny felt like somehow, she had both won this showdown but also had made a deal with the devil. Ignis’s smug grin didn’t help that feeling at all either. But with the bill paid, she was able to brush aside the slight misgivings she had by realizing that he was a generous but not extravagant tipper.

That said a lot about a person in her opinion.

On the way back to the Leville, hand in hand again, it began to rain. As the first drops landed on her arm, Penny swore under her breath and tugged Ignis into the shelter of a nearby doorstep.

“You know,” she said as Ignis tucked Enid in behind him and gave her a soothing scratch behind the ears, “I like most things about Lestallum but the weather is definitely not one of them.”

“I’ve never been fond of the heat,” Ignis admitted, shifting in the narrow space so that he was facing her, “But I had forgotten about the sudden rain.”

“Rain from nowhere,” she laughed. “At least it never lasts long.” 

Penny watched the fat droplets land on the concrete with satisfying pops, more and more of them eventually drowning out the sound of the few people making a run for their destinations instead of taking cover. Penny never did quite understand the point in that, but she assumed there must be something on the other end of their dash that made getting soaked worth it. Enid whined and Penny reached down absently to give her head a pat and narrowly missed cracking foreheads with Ignis who was doing the same. 

She steadied herself on his forearm as they both laughed, cheeks turning just a little pink from the sudden reminder of how close they were. The rain started to let up just as suddenly as it had begun and Ignis cocked his head slightly to one side before he asked, “Can I kiss you?”

Penny’s breath caught in her throat for a second before her face split into a smile wide enough to make her cheeks ache. 

“Opportunistic, again?” She leaned forward, closing what little distance remained between them.

“Always,” he admitted, lifting a hand to cradle her arm and letting it slip upwards.

“Yes.” 

Penny’s heart was racing and she could not get the mile-wide grin off of her face. Was this really happening? On a doorstep? In a rainstorm? Did a kiss get any more romantic than that? It was like something out of a movie or one of Gladio’s novels and she was pretty sure that she was floating a few inches off the ground, watching his face get closer to hers in slow motion.

“Uhhh, Your Excellency?”

If there were awards for ruining a moment, Penny decided that this one of Ignis’s security people was sure to get a nomination for this year. At the sound of his voice - because she certainly hadn’t noticed either the sound of his approach or his sudden appearance in the street just beyond their doorway - Penny had shot backwards, her back meeting the wall behind her and putting some distance between her and Ignis. 

But not enough distance to miss that his nose twitched and he took a deep breath before he turned to address the man who looked for all the world like he wanted to sink into the ground as much as Penny did. 

“Is there a problem, Simon?”

Penny wasn’t sure but Ignis sounded like he was holding it together with painters tape and a frayed shoelace. The idea crossed her mind about the same time that the adrenaline caught up with her, and she had to clap a hand over her mouth to not cackle out loud.

“N-no sir. We just lost visual on you and were concerned.” Simon seemed to know that he was taking one for the team but had every intention of dragging them down with him. Penny hoped as she fought back another wave of laughter by refusing to look at anything but the door to her left that he made whoever ‘we’ was, pay for it.

“I see. Well,” Ignis pulled himself upright and held out a hand to see if it was still raining. As it wasn’t, he gathered Enid’s lead in one hand and Penny’s hand in his other and stepped out of the doorway, “You have re-established it.”

Penny had never heard someone be told to fuck off so politely in her life. She bit down on her lower lip as Simon saluted smartly and did exactly as he understood he was intended to do and disappeared into the crowd that was emerging back into the streets. 

“That,” she snickered, finally letting go of some of the tension that had built up in her chest, “was a masterwork of dismissal. Can you teach me how to do that?”

Ignis made a disgusted noise and shook his head, “The real trick is being so fed up with the people you are dismissing that you care almost nothing for their feelings.”

As they turned back towards the Leville, Penny nudged his shoulder, “Come on, he’s just doing his job.”

“Yes, I know,” Ignis huffed, giving her hand a squeeze. “I just wish that he would go do it,” he gestured vaguely with their joined hands, “somewhere else just now.”

At that, Penny finally lost it and laughed out loud. The sound wasn’t subtle or quiet and it drew a little more attention than maybe she really wanted, but at least it overrode Ignis’s aggravation at the invasion of their privacy and got him to laugh too. 

Back at the Leville, Ignis collected his room key from the desk attendant and turned it over in his hands as he asked, “I know you’ve had a long day but can I interest you in a coffee before I walk you home?”

It did not take much consideration for Penny to know that she was going to have to refuse. “As much as I don’t want to say it, no. If I caffeinate now, I’ll never get to sleep. And my next shift starts at 3 again, Monday morning.”

“Completely understandable. If you’ll lead the way, Enid doesn’t know all the hallways yet and I certainly don’t remember them as they are now.”

“Yeah, the hotel really expanded during the Dark years,” Penny said, her heart speeding up again when he offered her his arm this time, not just his hand. “And the expansion was not well planned.”

“I’ve gathered as much from Gladio. He told me he found an entire room that could only be accessed through part of a hall that someone had bricked up or via the window?”

“I remember that! Still not as weird as the giant air return in the middle of the ceiling that had a filthy filter in it but was just a hole full of old newspapers,” Penny said as they rounded the corner of the last hall. 

“Oh, that’s not eerie at all, is it?” Ignis asked. “This place used to be a bastion of class and refinement, now it seems to be filled with useless holes in the ceiling and too-quiet back halls.”

“I don’t think the guests would want the hallways be empty and echo-y, though.”

“No, perhaps not. However, empty is welcome.” He slowed his pace and Penny was already stepping closer to him before he asked, “Do you suppose we could manage that kiss now?”

“We can hope,” is what she was going to say but before she could get the second word out, Gladio rounded the corner and hailed Ignis.

“Hey, just wanted you to know that I put a few cans of Ebony in your fridge. Didn’t know if you brought any with you this time.”

To his credit, Ignis showed no sign of being angry with Gladio like he had with the unfortunate Simon. “No, I had my last one on the way here and hadn’t though to get anymore. Thank you.”

“No problem,” Gladio had grinned, slapping Ignis on the shoulder. “Dinner good?”

“Yeah,” Penny said, hoping that she wasn’t blushing again. Of course, if she had been, Gladio might not have noticed as thick as he could be at times. “Though your buddy here thinks pineapple and cheese go together.”

“I will never live this down, will I?” Ignis groused.

“The Galdin Crisp!” Gladio sighed happily. “They have that again? It’s so good.”

Penny shook her head, “You people are weird.”

“It was divine. I wonder if they do takeout still?” Ignis said, the ghost of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

Gladio’s eyes went wide and his mouth formed an o. “They do but they run out of everything on Fridays. I’ve gotta get in on this.”

“See ya,” Penny called his retreating back, adding in a whisper, “just not too soon.”

Ignis snorted and Enid whined gently. “You are so patient, Enid. I don’t think it’s much further now.”

It took Penny a moment to figure out what he meant but as soon as she did, “Nope, the doors are right down here.”

“No wonder she’s whining. She can smell the grass.”

Ignis smiled and paused to unhook Enid’s lead from her vest as Penny pushed the door open, giving the dog a pat on the back that sent her bounding out the door to roll in the first patch of grass she came to.

“Interesting,” Penny mused as she watched Enid flop around, her tongue out in doggy bliss. “You either trust me to not let you trip over a rock or are completely crazy.”

Ignis hummed, holding his elbow out for Penny to take again and waiting until he had it tucked snug against his side before he replied, “Both. Because if I fall over a rock and I have a firm grip on you then you will go down as well.”

“Bandages for everyone, then?” Penny started across the yard again, setting a leisurely course that avoided the Amicitia-Colon children’s toys, the edges of an old shed foundation, and as many of the rocks as possible. 

“As demonstrated over dinner, I am a strong believer in fairness.”

“You sound like a politician when you say that,” she teased. 

“Oh no, don’t.” he held up a hand to silence her, “Don’t say politician. Someone from Parliament might overhear and think I want to be elected again.”

“I thought you were appointed,” she asked, confused.

“I was but there’s noise being made now about elections and sadly, the incumbent is oftentimes the favorite.” Ignis sighed and shook his head.

“I’m sorry I bought it up then,” she apologized, sincere in both her apology and her happiness at the fact that at last she had spotted an opportunity before he had. “I wonder if a kiss would take the sting out of the reminder.”

The smile that grew across his face started on the left and spread slowly as he replied, “The placebo effect, is it? I’ve heard that actually works in some cases.”

They’d stopped walking then and he put one arm around her back. She wasn’t going to need any cardio for a few days after this rollercoaster of an evening if her heartbeat throbbing in her ears was any indication.

“Shit!”

Penny froze, closing her eyes with Ignis’s mouth just a breath away from hers, at the explosive sound of Danica’s swearing.

“Oh my god,” Ignis whispered against her cheek, barely audible over Danica’s babbling apologies.

“...just took the trash out I’m going back in the house right now, sweet dreams and I am  _ so  _ sorry.” The snap of the door closing was louder than it would have been otherwise and Penny did not have to see Danica's face to know that she was beyond mortified.

“This has gotten pretty silly,” Penny acknowledged, gulping air, as Ignis backed away from her and ran a hand through his hair. 

“It has,” Ignis agreed. “What are the odds of us being interrupted in your garden?”

“Any other time, I would say slim to none,” she shrugged. “But tonight? After all this?”

“Best to go face whatever hoard of distraction awaits, then,” he sighed.

Penny led him through the on past the Leville’s fencerow, down the alley between her house and the Leville, and through the gate that led into her back yard. Once the gate was latched behind her she turned, hoping that there would be nothing unusual waiting for them only to be deeply disappointed.

Because sitting in her hammock was three-year-old Caris, her tiny ankles crossed, smiling at them both. Well, smiling at Ignis and looking daggers at Penny for having the nerve to be hogging her favorite honorary uncle.

“Oh no,” was all Penny managed to get out, feeling Ignis tense up again as Caris clapped her hands and began to clamor out of her seat.

“Uncle Iggy! You promised you would read to me tonight!” She had come prepared, a brightly colored book in her hands.

“So I did,” Ignis said, melting just a bit. Caris was cute and Penny was pretty sure that he didn’t have to see that to feel the charm of her. “But why did you wait here for me?”

_ Good question _ , Penny thought and she waited for the answer with her stomach knotting up and a scream threatening to rip out of her mouth at any second. Was this some sort of sign from the Astrals? A cosmic announcement of ‘now-is-not-the-time’?

If it was she was pretty sure it was the Tidemother behind it, the old sea cow.

“Mama told Daddy that she wouldn’t be surprised if you were here tonight. I dunno why when your room at the hotel is one of the pretty ones.”

Out of the mouths of babes and into the frying pan. Ignis’s nose twitched again as he crouched down to Caris’s level and Penny had to put her fingers over her mouth so that she did explode into either screaming or laughter. 

“I see. Did you bring a book I can read to you?” How could he sound that patient?

“Uh-huh! It’s my blue shoe book. It’s my favorite!”

“Oh dear,” Ignis said, taking the book from her and turning the pages. “Do you remember us talking about how if I am going to read to you, you need one of the books with the bumpy pages? This one doesn’t have the bumps.”

Caris’s face was the exact image of Gladio’s half an hour before with her eyes wide and her mouth making an O as she realized her mistake. She had the same energy as her father, too as she snatched the book from Ignis and headed to the gate. “I’ll go get a right one,” she said. “Wait right here!”

“How about I come to you?” He suggested instead. “That way you have plenty of time to pick the best one?”

“Good idea!” Caris chirped happily. “Don’t be long though, Mama gets mad when I’m late to bed.”

“I’m sure we can convince her to be more forgiving tonight,” Ignis replied, following her to the gate with a tight smile. 

Once the little girl had been ushered through, Penny hissed, “Lock. The. Gate.”

Ignis wasted no time doing as he was told before whirling and starting back towards her, both of them talking at once. 

“What in the bloody....!”

“I don’t know!” Penny moved to meet him halfway.

“What is a child doing roaming...?”

“She’s done it before, but….”

“If one more person interrupts me trying to kiss you, I will murder them and enjoy it,” Ignis declared. 

Right as they met somewhere in the middle of the yard, a desperate scratching came from the direction of the gate and Ignis stopped dead in his tracks. Rolling his eyes and letting his head fall back, he raked his fingers down the lower half of his face and neck before groaning, “ENID!” and turning back to let the determined dog in before she dug her way through the wood.

In Penny’s estimation, this was definitely the work of the Tidemother; punishment for all the times Penny had cursed the water She swam in. She looked to the heavens as she trailed along behind Ignis and upgraded her previous opinion of the Astral from sea cow to a Drippy Bitch.

Penny would have considered that this probably wasn’t helping her case at all but with the slam of the gate and the decisive click of the latch, she had an idea that didn’t so much form as it just turned itself into action without needing any input from her at all. Catching him as he turned, her hands on either side of his face Penny pulled Ignis down just enough to meet her as she rose up on her toes, pressing her lips against his just long enough for it to count as a kiss.

When she pulled back, Penny didn’t get far with Ignis’s arms around her. He exhaled a breath that he must have been holding and Penny giggled an apology, ”Sorry for not asking first. Kinda thought we might be past that by now.”

Ignis nodded, looking like he had just realized what happened. “Sounds reasonable,” he mumbled before kissing her again, his lips pressed against hers longer this time, more gently. Stopping to tilt his head the other direction before they came back together again, this time with one of his hands gliding over the back of her neck.

“I think I could stay right here forever,” Ignis whispered as their foreheads touched and he ran the pad of his thumb over her lips. 

“Mmm,” Penny hummed, the stress from all the collected interruptions and distractions evaporating the longer she stayed there, her arms wrapped around him and her hands balled into the back of his shirt. 

Talk about hopes realized. Sure, it could have gone a little more smoothly maybe, but wow. What a payoff.

“Same but you have another date tonight,” she reminded him, craning her neck a little to kiss him again. 

“First,” he grinned against her mouth, “I wasn’t aware tonight was a date.” 

“If it ends like this,” another ghost of her lips against his, “It’s a date.”

“Interesting criteria,” he licked his lips, his tongue flicking against hers in the process. “Second, what other date?”

Penny managed to frame their next several, rapidly occurring kisses with light laughter, “Caris, remember?”

“Oh right,” he breathed, unconcerned. “She’s young.” His tongue over her lips was intentional this time. “Learning patience now will serve her well later in life.”

“So blase about destroying an innocent child’s hopes?” Penny’s teasing may have been more effective if she had not used the space between each word to kiss him again, and again, and again. 

As it was, all she got in response was the pleasure of his mouth on hers almost as much as she could have hoped for. 


End file.
